Saturday, July 30, 2016

THE RELEASE OF JOHN W. HINCKLEY JR.

John W. Hinckley Jr., who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, will be allowed to live permanently with his elderly mother in Williamsburg, Va., leaving the psychiatric hospital where he has been imprisoned for several decades, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

John
Hinckley at a hearing on April 15, 1987 (Hinckley seated at defense table). A hospital request that
Hinckley be allowed an unescorted Easter visit with his family. A
psychiatrist testified that Hinckley was no longer obsessed with Jodie
Foster or saw himself as a hero for shooting president Reagan. The
hospital rapidly withdrew its request, however, after a psychiatrist
reported that Hinckley was pen pals with serial killer Ted Bundy, then
on death row. Hinckley also was reportedly romantically involved with woman
who killed her sleeping baby with a shotgun. At the Easter visit
hearing, Hinckley was represented by attorney Vincent Fuller. Federal
District Judge Barrington D. Parker presided as Hinckley’s loyal parents
looked on. Artwork by Aggie Kenny

Insider trading by ex-banker's father becomes focus in U.S. trialArtwork by Aggie Kenny

NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - The relationship between a former Wall Street investment banker charged for insider trading and his father, who traded on information about mergers he learned from him, took center stage at the start of the son's trial on Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. attorney Sarah McCallum, focused her presentation on
showing that Stewart knew and intended that his father would trade on
the confidential information. Stewart lied to JPMorgan, Cucinella said,
when presented with a list of individuals who suspiciously bought stock
in 2011. The list included Stewart's father, but he did not fess up to
recognizing any names on the list.Newman is unlikely to
come up directly during the trial and its holding applies more to those
trading on inside information than those accused of providing it. The
Second Circuit ruled that to sustain a conviction prosecutors must prove
that defendants charged with trading on inside information knew the
insiders received a "consequential" personal benefit for disclosing the
information.
Even so its impact looms large in the background. The
U.S. Supreme Court is expected this fall to consider the
benefit-to-the-tipper issue in United States v. Salman, an insider-trading case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Kirk A. Swanson vs Battery Park City Authority

Former vice president of the Battery Park City Authority
Kirk Swanson's federal whistle-blower lawsuit, claiming he was fired for
exposing
corruption in the awarding of contracts. The case's first court hearing was
before Hon. J. Paul Oetken, U.S.D.J.
Swanson, a former VP and chief contracts officer at the state
agency, alleges he “discovered that high-level BPCA employees were
making false statements in an effort to bypass the BPCA’s contract
approval process.”

Plaintiff's atty Jason L. Solotaroff standing, Atty for defendants Battery Park City Authority, et an., Christopher D'Angelo seated. This was the first time that the case was brought before the judge. The next court appearance is scheduled for December 2, 10:00 AM.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Federal agents surprised an HSBC Holdings Plc executive as he prepared
to fly out of New York’s Kennedy airport around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday,
arresting him for an alleged front-running scheme involving a $3.5
billion currency transaction in 2011.

Mark Johnson, HSBC’s global head of foreign exchange cash trading in
London, was held in a Brooklyn jail overnight and appeared in court
Wednesday. Thomas Franck of CNBC seated far left. Click on image to see larger.

Mark Johnson, the bank's global
head of foreign-exchange cash trading, was arrested Tuesday at JFK
International Airport, according to multiple reports. He faces charges
following a three-year investigation into currency trading practices at
multiple global banks, according to the reports.
In addition, Stuart Scott, former
head of cash trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, also faces
wire fraud conspiracy charges, though he has not been arrested yet.
Johnson and Scott committed the alleged violation on a $3.5 million
trade, which allegedly occurred in October 2011 involved an unnamed oil
and gas company that wanted to exchange U.S. dollars with British
pounds. Authorities said HSBC made $8 million from the transaction.
The Department of Justice charged
that "Johnson and Scott caused the $3.5 billion foreign exchange
transaction to be executed in a manner that was designed to spike the
price of the pound sterling, to the benefit of HSBC and at the expense
of their client."

Gawker Can't Shield Chief From Judgment

By Jonathan Randles

Law360, New York (July 19, 2016, 8:46 PM ET) -- Gawker Media chief
Nick Denton will likely be forced to file for personal bankruptcy after
a New York judge on Tuesday denied the company’s request to temporarily
shield him from Hulk Hogan’s $140 million sex tape judgment.

U.S.
Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein denied the company’s request for an
injunction to protect Denton and former Gawker editor-in-chief, A.J.
Daulerio, from the judgment handed down by a Florida jury until Sept. 3.
Gawker attorneys said the injunction would allow Denton to focus on
selling the company’s assets.

Gawker CEO Nick Denton testifies at TRO Hearing July 19, 2016. Judge Stuart Bernstein presiding. Attorney David Hennes questioning Denton. “As has been reported, the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel has
been funding a series of lawsuits against the company intended to deter
critical coverage,” Denton testified. “It’s been a drain on the
company’s energy and financial resources.”

Denton testified Tuesday that a personal bankruptcy could disrupt
Gawker’s plan to sell itself in an August auction, in which he would
play a role marketing the company. Lead bidder Ziff Davis has agreed to
bid $90 million and keep Denton on if it wins the auction.
“I’m
the founder of the company,” he said, when asked whether Gawker could
survive without him. “I founded it out of my apartment and I know where
all the bodies are buried.”
Artwork by Elizabeth Williams
Click on image to see larger.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Aeropostale Hits Ch. 11, Plans To Shutter 154 Stores

Law360, New York (May 4, 2016, 7:53 AM ET) -- Teen apparel
retailer Aeropostale filed for bankruptcy Wednesday in New York carrying
$223 million in funded debt, and it plans to immediately close 154
stores, becoming the latest apparel chain to seek court protection amid
fierce competition and the changing buying habits of consumers.

Aeropostale
listed approximately $216 million in assets in its Chapter 11 petition.
The company, which is being represented by Weil Gosthal & Manges
LLP, has lined up a proposed $160 million financing package with Crystal
Financial LLC to keep the business operating.

Southern District of NY Judge Sean Lane presiding over the Aeropostale bankruptcy. Aeropostale is represented by Weil Gotshal attorney Garrett Fail ( at podium). Courtroom reporter Jonathan Ramos seated in foreground.
Click on the image to see it larger.
Artwork by Elizabeth Williams

Friday, July 15, 2016

UPDATE: Supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders have lost their bid to block the
Democratic Party’s use of superdelegates at this week’s convention in
Philadelphia.

The First Amendment does not give individual members a right to
control internal processes of the party, which is expected to nominate
Hillary Clinton for president, a U.S. district court in Manhattan ruled
recently in a challenge filed by Jeff Kurzon, an attorney and Sanders
supporter.
Kuzon charged in court paper’s that the party’s use of superdelegates
dilutes the power of the popular vote and sought a court order that
would bar them from voting at the convention. The Democratic Party has 713 superdelegates,
who include members of Congress and party leaders, and who can vote for
the candidate of their choice. Clinton leads Sanders among
superdelegates, 602-48.
“An individual’s First Amendment associational rights do not empower
him to compel nomination procedures that guarantee his preferred
candidate a ‘fair shot’ at winning a party’s nomination,” Judge Paul
Oetken wrote in a ruling dated July 18.

Ex-Sidley Austin Atty Moves To Block Dem Superdelegates

By William Gorta

Law360,
New York (July 14, 2016, 7:01 PM ET) -- A former Sidley Austin LLP
attorney and avowed supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders asked a New York
federal judge on Thursday to block the Democratic National Committee
from using superdelegates at its upcoming convention in Philadelphia,
saying the Democrats violated his rights by violating their charter.

Jeffrey
Mead Kurzon, now of Kurzon Kohen & Stancati LLP, asked U.S.
District Judge J. Paul Oetken to enjoin the use of superdelegates at the
Philadelphia confab, which starts July 25.

As
it turns out, as my lawyer, Josh Douglass( pictured), and I have discovered, the
entire concept of super-delegates is in violation of the Party’s own
charter. That the Democratic Party is even using super-delegates, is a
clear breach of contract. It is also a violation of our constitutional
rights, including the 14th Amendment of Equal Protection (our vote
should hold just as much weight as a super-delegate’s!).

Last
week, I instructed Mr. Douglass to sue both the Democratic National
Committee (DNC) and the New York State Democratic Committee, on my
behalf, over their use of super-delegates. We have requested a
preliminary injunction which would cause the DNC to honor the average
voter’s preference of POTUS nominee by having the super delegate votes
be diminished to being proportional and in keeping with the preference
of the primary voters.

AXA Beats Broker's $20M Contract Beef With Quick Verdict

By Pete Brush

Law360, New York (July 14, 2016, 6:20 PM ET) -- A seven-member
civil jury needed just over an hour Thursday to reject broker Steven S.
Novick's breach of contract suit against two AXA units, finding the
financial giant breached no agreements with the Connecticut money man
when it fired him for hawking unapproved investments then reached out to
some of his clients.

Members of the four-man, three-woman
federal panel had no comment after their lightning-fast rejection of
claims by Novick, now affiliated with Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments
and with Charles Schwab Corp.